Ring (1998 film)
Ring (リング Ringu) is a 1998 Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata, adapted from the novel Ring by Kōji Suzuki, which in turn draws on the Japanese folk tale Banchō Sarayashiki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rikiya Ōtaka . The film follows TV-reporter and single mother Reiko who is caught up in a series of deaths surrounding a cursed video tape. Cast *Nanako Matsushima as Reiko Asakawa *Hiroyuki Sanada as Ryuji Takayama *Rikiya Ōtaka as Yoichi Asakawa *Miki Nakatani as Mai Takano *Yūko Takeuchi as Tomoko Ōishi *Hitomi Satō as Masami Kurahashi *Yōichi Numata as Takashi Yamamura *Yutaka Matsushige as Yoshino *Katsumi Muramatsu as Kōichi Asakawa *Masako as Shizuko Yamamura *Rie Inō as Sadako Yamamura Plot Intro Two teenagers, Masami (Hitomi Satō) and Tomoko (Yūko Takeuchi), talk about a videotape recorded by a boy in Izu which is fabled to bear a curse that kills the viewer seven days after watching. Tomoko reveals that a week ago, she and three of her friends watched a weird tape and received a call after watching. Tomoko is killed by an unseen force with Masami having the horror of watching. Reiko Asakawa (Nanako Matsushima), a reporter investigating the popularity of the video curse, discovers that her niece Tomoko, and her three other friends, mysteriously died at the same time, on the same night, with their faces twisted in fear. She also discovers that Masami became insane and is in a mental hospital. Monday, September 13 After stumbling upon Tomoko's photos from the past week, Reiko finds that the four teenagers stayed in a rental cabin in Izu. Reiko goes to Izu and finds an unlabeled tape in the reception room of the teenager's rental cottage. Watching the tape, Reiko sees a series of seemingly unrelated disturbing images. As soon as the tape is over, Reiko sees a reflection in the television and receives a phone call. Tuesday, September 14 Yoichi and his father Ryuji met up in the street during a rainy day then Yoichi passes by leaving his father without a word. Reiko enlists the help of her ex-husband, Ryūji Takayama (Hiroyuki Sanada). They take a picture of Reiko and find her face blurred in the photograph. Ryūji then watches the tape, against Reiko's objections. Ryūji asks Reiko to create a copy of the tape so that he will examine it. Wednesday, September 15 Ryuji was sitting alone in a bench and a woman with a white dress and a white shoes approaches to him slowly, watching Ryuji writing hieroglyphics in his notebook. The girl suddenly disappeared. Ryuji arrives to his home and found Reiko waiting for him. They went inside to the house to analyze the tape. Suddenly, Ryuji's student or girlfriend, Mai Takano arrives. Later in the studio, they find a hidden message embedded within the tape saying "frolic in brine, goblins be thine". Thursday, September 16 Ryuji phones Reiko that the message from the tape is in a form of dialect from Izu Ōshima Island. Later, they went to the library to research for the headlines about volcanic eruption until Reiko found one and the article is same as what seen in the video. The eruption in the video was reffering to the prediction of a young woman about the eruption of Mt. Mihara and it became true. Friday, September 17 Reiko, together with her son takes a vacation at her father's house. That night, Ryuji phones Reiko that the woman in the mirror was Shizuko Yamamura. When they are asleep, Reiko encounters the towel man, pointing that her young son was watching the tape. Reiko catches her young son Yoichi, watching the videotape; claiming that Tomoko had told him to do it. Saturday, September 18 Reiko and Ryūji sail for Ōshima and discover the history of the great psychic Shizuko Yamamura, who was accused of faking supernatural powers; and thus committed suicide. When they arrived to the Yamamura residence, they discovered the mirror in the video which is still there in the room. They met Takashi Yamamura. They ask questions about Shizuko but Takashi ignored. Later that night, Reiko was begging to Ryuji that she die in his arms but Ryuji didn't wanted to. Sunday, September 19 Ryuji found Takashi staring at the sea. Takashi told Ryuji that their family is afraid of the sea. One by one members of their family will die in the sea. Ryuji told Takashi that he has similar abilities to Shizuko and Takashi runs away from Ryuji because he didn't want to talk about it. When Ryuji was holding Takashi's hand, he suddenly saw a vision from the past during the ESP demonstration of Shizuko. Reiko runs to them and she was transported to Ryuji's vision. When Sadako kills the journalist, she ran away from her family and holds Reiko's hand. Reiko's arm has Sadako's mark. Later, they where unable to go home because there was a storm approaching to them. That night, Takashi drove Reiko and Ryuji back to Tokyo even if the waves are strong. Monday, September 20 With only a day left, Reiko and Ryūji discover that the videotape was made psionically by Shizuko's lost daughter, Sadako Yamamura, whose supernatural powers surpassed even those of her mother. The two go back to Izu with the assumption that Sadako is dead and her vengeful spirit (Onryō) killed the teenagers. They uncover a well underneath the cabin and through a vision see the circumstances of Sadako's murder by her father. They try to find Sadako's body in an attempt to appease her spirit. Minutes before her seven days are up, Reiko finds Sadako's corpse, and they believe that the curse is broken. Tuesday, September 21 The next day Ryūji is at home and his TV switches on by itself, showing the image of a well. The ghost of Sadako crawls out of the well, out of Ryūji's TV set, and frightens him into a state of shock, killing him via cardiac arrest. Before dying, he manages to dial Reiko's number; she hears his last minutes over the phone and realizes the videotape's curse remains unbroken. Desperate to save her son, Reiko realizes that copying the tape and showing it to someone else saved her. Wednesday, September 22 With a VCR and Ryūji's copy of the tape, Reiko travels with her son to see her father in an attempt to save him, realizing that this is a never-ending cycle: The tape must always be copied and passed on to ensure the survival of the viewers. Gallery Ringuposter.png|Official poster ringbluray.png|Blu-Ray release of Ring Ringu_(1998)-poster-848048.jpg|Tartan DVD release ringuchinese.jpg|Chinese poster ringu-horror-movie-poster.jpg|Dreamworks DVD release Ringustill5.png Ringustill4.png Ringu-cap.jpg Reikoasakawastill.png ringustill2.png ringustill1.png|A rare still photo of Sadako ringustill3.png Trivia *Ring is the highest grossing horror film in Japan. *The close-up of Sadako's eye near the end of the film was performed by a male crew member. *In the scene where Sadako comes out from the well was shot in reverse. First, they shot the Kabuki Theater actress Rie Ino walking backwards in a jerky, exaggerated motion. They then played the film in reverse to portray an unnatural-looking walk for Sadako. *The 2001 UK DVD release back cover carries a disclaimer, stating that the distributor accepts no responsibility for "for any injuries or fatalities that may occur during or after the viewing of this videocassette. *The American trailer for Ringu pronounces the word as "ring-oo". *As seen in the photos of the teenagers, it was captured in August 29, 1997. It means the year in the movie was in 1997. *The footage of the ESP demonstration was shown coloured in the trailer *There are 10 date captions appeared. *In Rasen after Ryuji's death, he was seen lying on the floor with his eyes open instead his face was deformed. *The poster features Reiko or an american woman inside a ring or the circle part of the videotape with waters on it. *In a filipino movie entitled White Lady, the appearance of Christina is similar Sadako because her outfit is almost same as Sadako wears, her face is covered with a long hair and the way she walks. Category:Films Category:Japanese Films